S
SSD677GP
Guest
Below is an email received from a friend. Anyone thinking of touring and riding in Africa, give Lesotho a miss. :shooter:
REPORT OF INCIDENTS IN LESOTHO
Over the weekend of the 27 April to 01 May 2006 we (Mario & I) went for a trip to Lesotho with a few friends, some on motorcycles and some in cars (3 BMW's: Old 1100GS, 1150GS & 1150 Adv), 1 Triumph Tiger and me on my Africa Twin, a Landrover Discovery, a Mazda Rustler 4x4 and a new Ford Ranger 2x4).
All went relatively well on the first day, although I needed some help 'cos I was too scared to do the last few k's up Sani Pass because I'm really afraid of heights, but we had some stone throwing and harassment from the local population further down the road. On the second day travel was slower as the road became a lot more difficult to ride on as the rain had washed away large parts of it, and the locals became a problem, especially the younger males, as they kept harassing the ladies in our group, especially me as I was not in a car but on a motorcycle. The next day the road became even worse and the guys eventually decided that I should not carry on riding the bike, but rather travel in the car as I was just too slow and too exhausted, and then some of the guys would go back and fetch my motorcycle with the pickup. We negotiated with the locals and arranged to come back later and to pay them a fee for looking after the bike until they returned.
A little further down the road Rob on his Tiger sprung a hole in the sump and could not carry on, so it was decided to also pick it up with the pickup. Initially we wanted to wait with the bikes, but since the behaviour of the locals was not friendly, we decided against it. So we drove on to our camping grounds at Katse Dam and from there two of our friends went back early the next morning to fetch the two motorcycles.
When they came back to Katse I got the shock of my life, only pieces of the two bikes were left and I totally freaked out. The bikes had been gutted, burned, dragged along and made almost unrecognizable by these monsters which call themselves human beings, there is nothing human about anyone who does this to someone else's' property. Just as well that I did not stay behind with the bike, I would most probably have been raped and killed.
The next day we reported the incident to the local police at Katse, but they are so primitive there that they do not even have telephones, have never heard of a fax and for the most part I doubt that they understood enough English to comprehend what was being told to them. I did not deal with them directly, as I was far too upset and emotional at the time.
I had to travel on the back of Mario's motorcycle and my luggage had to be stored in the cars. But even on the way back to the border we had several incidents of stone throwing and being hit on the legs with their herding sticks. I was very glad to finally arrive back in SA. We had to arrange for someone from Katse to bring the broken motorcycles over the border, and we still have to arrange for the bikes to be transported back to Johannesburg.
Lesotho is not a safe place at all and a lot of the locals we encountered were very unfriendly and demanded sweets and money all the time, and if you did not oblige they threw stones and hit us with their sticks. We came to Lesotho as visitors, we spent our money in this country and I did not expect to be treated like this. I would strongly advise against anyone wanting to go to Lesotho on holiday. If Lesotho does not want tourists, then they should not print fancy pamphlets inviting people to come and visit. I will most certainly never come back to this part of Africa.
REPORT OF INCIDENTS IN LESOTHO
Over the weekend of the 27 April to 01 May 2006 we (Mario & I) went for a trip to Lesotho with a few friends, some on motorcycles and some in cars (3 BMW's: Old 1100GS, 1150GS & 1150 Adv), 1 Triumph Tiger and me on my Africa Twin, a Landrover Discovery, a Mazda Rustler 4x4 and a new Ford Ranger 2x4).
All went relatively well on the first day, although I needed some help 'cos I was too scared to do the last few k's up Sani Pass because I'm really afraid of heights, but we had some stone throwing and harassment from the local population further down the road. On the second day travel was slower as the road became a lot more difficult to ride on as the rain had washed away large parts of it, and the locals became a problem, especially the younger males, as they kept harassing the ladies in our group, especially me as I was not in a car but on a motorcycle. The next day the road became even worse and the guys eventually decided that I should not carry on riding the bike, but rather travel in the car as I was just too slow and too exhausted, and then some of the guys would go back and fetch my motorcycle with the pickup. We negotiated with the locals and arranged to come back later and to pay them a fee for looking after the bike until they returned.
A little further down the road Rob on his Tiger sprung a hole in the sump and could not carry on, so it was decided to also pick it up with the pickup. Initially we wanted to wait with the bikes, but since the behaviour of the locals was not friendly, we decided against it. So we drove on to our camping grounds at Katse Dam and from there two of our friends went back early the next morning to fetch the two motorcycles.
When they came back to Katse I got the shock of my life, only pieces of the two bikes were left and I totally freaked out. The bikes had been gutted, burned, dragged along and made almost unrecognizable by these monsters which call themselves human beings, there is nothing human about anyone who does this to someone else's' property. Just as well that I did not stay behind with the bike, I would most probably have been raped and killed.
The next day we reported the incident to the local police at Katse, but they are so primitive there that they do not even have telephones, have never heard of a fax and for the most part I doubt that they understood enough English to comprehend what was being told to them. I did not deal with them directly, as I was far too upset and emotional at the time.
I had to travel on the back of Mario's motorcycle and my luggage had to be stored in the cars. But even on the way back to the border we had several incidents of stone throwing and being hit on the legs with their herding sticks. I was very glad to finally arrive back in SA. We had to arrange for someone from Katse to bring the broken motorcycles over the border, and we still have to arrange for the bikes to be transported back to Johannesburg.
Lesotho is not a safe place at all and a lot of the locals we encountered were very unfriendly and demanded sweets and money all the time, and if you did not oblige they threw stones and hit us with their sticks. We came to Lesotho as visitors, we spent our money in this country and I did not expect to be treated like this. I would strongly advise against anyone wanting to go to Lesotho on holiday. If Lesotho does not want tourists, then they should not print fancy pamphlets inviting people to come and visit. I will most certainly never come back to this part of Africa.
